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ProfileCompany or group

Biz2Credit

Lender or loan platform

PPP · PPPLF
Type
Company or group
Role
Lender or loan platform
Programs
PPP, PPPLF
Updated

The profile

Individuals and companies whose conduct was challenged or called into question during or after the pandemic. See sources: FTC complaint, March 18, 2024 Stipulated order, March 20, 2024

  • Type: Online small-business finance company. SBA-authorized lender via wholly owned subsidiary. SaaS provider to banks via Biz2X.
  • Legal entities: Biz2Credit Inc. (Delaware C-corp, headquartered in New York City). PPP lender of record was Itria Ventures LLC (Delaware LLC, wholly owned subsidiary, SBA-authorized lender). Bank-facing software is sold under Biz2X.
  • Founded: 2007, New York, by brothers Rohit Arora (CEO) and Ramit Arora (President).
  • HQ: New York City.
  • CEO: Rohit Arora (continuous since founding); Ramit Arora is President.
  • Role in PPP: Itria was the direct lender of record. Biz2Credit ran the borrower funnel, the document-collection software, the e-tran submission, and the post-funding servicing.

In the archive

Pandemic-role map

  • Reader shorthand: vertically integrated fintech lender plus lending-software platform.
  • What Biz2Credit did for borrowers: accepted PPP applications directly, processed documents, submitted applications to SBA through Itria, and serviced the resulting loans.
  • What Biz2Credit sold to other companies: separately sold Biz2X lending software to banks and financial institutions; in PPP, its own lender subsidiary, Itria, held the e-tran number rather than routing every borrower to an outside bank.
  • Where responsibility sat: Itria Ventures was the SBA lender of record and PPPLF borrower; Biz2Credit was the borrower-facing technology and servicing layer inside the same corporate family.

Before the pandemic (2007–early 2020)

The Aroras started the company in New York in 2007 (Biz2Credit's company description in Wharton FinTech's interview with Rohit Arora; Wikipedia entry for Biz2Credit).

Before the pandemic Biz2Credit was both a direct lender (through Itria) and a software vendor to banks (through Biz2X).

During the pandemic (March 2020 – mid 2021)

SBA loan data list 3,094 PPP loans from Biz2Credit's lending subsidiary, Itria Ventures, in 2020 and 169,737 in 2021. Of those, 92,741, more than half, were approved in February 2021 (SBA PPP loan-level data, as of September 30, 2024).

The March 24, 2020 coalition letter

Rohit Arora signed the fintech coalition letter (published under OnDeck's banner) to Congressional leadership on March 24, 2020 as "Co-Founder & CEO" of Biz2Credit (fintech coalition letter to Congress, March 24, 2020). The letter urged Treasury to push "upwards of $500 billion" to small businesses through non-bank and online lenders and stated, "We seek no gain from this crisis." Biz2Credit is one of the letter's signers whose group appears in SBA loan-level data as a direct PPP lender, through Itria.

Software first, free for community banks

On March 30, 2020, three days after the CARES Act was signed, Biz2Credit introduced Biz2X Accelerate SBA, a white-label platform for banks handling PPP applications (Biz2X Launches SBA Loan Platform for Banks to Start Lending Under CARES Act). On April 10 it made the platform "free of charge to banks and credit unions with assets under $10 billion that are offering PPP loans," through June 30, and said "two dozen banks" were in late-stage discussions (Biz2X Offers Free Access to Its Accelerate SBA Platform to Community Banks and Credit Unions Through June 30). The release gives no dollar value for the waiver. Later customers licensed Biz2X software: ACAP and its servicer, The Loan Source, signed in September 2020 to run forgiveness on "its current portfolio of 22,000 loans" (National Loan Aggregator ACAP Signs Deal With Biz2Credit to License PPP Forgiveness Platform), and Fountainhead signed in January 2021 for first- and second-draw loans (Fountainhead Signs Deal to License Biz2X SBA Platform for PPP Loans, Other SBA Programs). A lending portal for CPA firms, announced with the AICPA and CPA.com and built on Biz2X, offered "a free basic service" and listed "payment of agent fees for firms registered for one of the paid plans" (Small Businesses and CPA Firms Should Be Readying for New Round of PPP Relief Funds, AICPA, CPA.com, and Biz2Credit Say).

From "not a lender" to a lending affiliate

In April 2020 Biz2Credit's PPP page took applications under the disclaimer "Biz2Credit is not a lender" (Paycheck Protection Program | Biz2Credit (April 7, 2020)). A Paychex co-branded copy was live by April 30 (Paycheck Protection Program | Biz2Credit (Paychex page, April 30, 2020)). The Wayback Machine has PPP application pages on biz2credit.com under at least 28 different path prefixes, including ones named for Gusto, SurePayroll, Jack Henry and Blissfield State Bank (Paycheck Protection Program | Biz2Credit (Jack Henry page, March 19, 2021); Wayback Machine index of biz2credit.com).

On May 4 the company announced that its "funding affiliate was approved last Friday" as a PPP lender and estimated "upwards of $1.5 billion in demand for PPP loans from its customers" (Biz2Credit Affiliate Approved by SBA for Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) Loans). In SBA data, Itria's 2020 loans came to $159.0 million in initial approvals.

Six weeks before the announcement, Itria had signed a consent order with California's Department of Business Oversight (Consent Order, The Commissioner of Business Oversight v. Itria Ventures LLC). The department had revoked Itria's California Financing Law license, effective December 30, 2019, over an unpaid annual assessment. The order rescinded the revocation, required the $250 assessment and imposed $3,000 in administrative fines and penalties.

Itria as the PPP lender of record

Itria Ventures submitted PPP applications directly to SBA, held e-tran numbers, received SBA processing fees, and pledged loans to the Federal Reserve's PPPLF. Biz2Credit's own PPP FAQ page from January 20, 2021 marketed the position as "Apply Direct (PPP)": direct intake rather than referral to a third-party bank. The same page noted that Itria was the SBA-approved lender.

The 2021 round

In December 2020 Biz2Credit took "pre-applications" for a round that had not opened and said it would submit them to SBA "as soon as the program opens"; its CEO said this meant "faster approval times" (Biz2Credit's Online PPP Platform Lets Small Businesses Apply Now for the New Round of PPP Loans).

SBA's report on approvals through February 15, 2021 ranked Itria third among 2021 lenders by dollars, behind JPMorgan Chase and Bank of America. By count it was ahead of both: 118,355 loans at an average of $29,654, against 57,458 for JPMorgan Chase and 66,666 for Bank of America (SBA Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) Report, approvals through 02/15/2021). Itria's count is 7.1% of the 1,673,707 loans approved in the round to that date. On February 23 the company said its funding subsidiary was "the largest provider of approved PPP loans," citing SBA data as of February 21, with 139,559 approvals and "over 98%" of approved applications from businesses with fewer than 20 employees (Biz2Credit Supports Biden-Harris Administration's PPP Changes to Promote More Equitable Access to Capital). Paychex repeated the claim in a 10-Q filed April 7, 2021, citing SBA's report through February 28 (Paychex, Inc. Form 10-Q for the quarter ended February 28, 2021).

The PPP page at the time read "Average processing time: 12-14 business days," beside an alert that SBA was issuing "a significant number of validation requests" (Paycheck Protection Program | Biz2Credit (February 11, 2021)). The same line was still up on April 14 (Paycheck Protection Program | Biz2Credit (April 14, 2021)). The FTC's 2024 complaint alleges that internal emails in mid-February 2021 said "[w]e are drinking from the SBA firehose and our backlog is increasing every day," and that the companies stopped taking applications for one weekend, then reopened intake. It alleges that SBA soon flagged Biz2Credit for an "elevated number of loans in undisbursed status" (FTC v. Biz2Credit, Inc. and Itria Ventures LLC, complaint). The companies settled without admitting or denying the allegations.

The 2021 surge

SBA loan-level data show 172,831 funded PPP loans worth about $4.867 billion, supporting a reported 474,187 jobs. 160,638 funded loans (92.95%) were $50,000 or less; the average funded loan was about $28,160. That puts Itria in the 14th slot by funded loan count, 17th by estimated SBA processing fees, and 23rd by dollar volume among PPP lenders in the SBA loan-level data.

The Federal Reserve liquidity line

Itria drew $4.905 billion in gross PPPLF advances and had $4.770 billion peak outstanding on June 10, 2021 (Federal Reserve PPPLF disclosures). PPPLF lent against PPP collateral at 0.35%; PPP loans paid 1%; SBA paid the lender processing fee.

Estimated PPP fee income

Our estimate, which applies SBA's processing-fee schedule to each Itria loan in the SBA loan-level data, puts Itria's SBA processing fees at about $473.4 million on its PPP book, 98.8% of that from 2021. There is no Blueacorn-style public cash-flow showing what Itria paid to outside platforms or referral channels, because the funnel and the lender were one group. Internal allocations between Biz2Credit and Itria are not in the public record.

Biz2X LLC's PPP loan

SBA data list a $117,000 PPP loan approved April 15, 2020 through Popular Bank to Biz2X LLC, One Penn Plaza, Suite 4530, New York, reporting five jobs (SBA PPP FOIA data (as of September 30, 2024): loan 9812837101, Biz2X LLC). California's March 2020 consent order gives Itria's principal office as One Penn Plaza, Suite 4530, and Biz2Credit's contact page gave its own address as 1 Penn Plaza, 45th Floor (Consent Order, The Commissioner of Business Oversight v. Itria Ventures LLC; Contact Us | Biz2Credit (April 26, 2020)). A 2022 release called Biz2X "a subsidiary of Biz2Credit" (Biz2X Announces Growth of 700% in 18 Months, Launches New Tagline and Website); the SBA row does not say whether Biz2X LLC is that company. The loan was marked paid in full on November 19, 2020, with no forgiveness recorded. No PPP loan appears under the Biz2Credit or Itria names (SBA PPP loan-level data, as of September 30, 2024).

Headcount

No notice in New York's WARN listings for 2020, 2021 or 2022 names Biz2Credit, Itria or Biz2X (2020 WARN Notices, New York State Department of Labor; 2021 WARN Notices, New York State Department of Labor; 2022 WARN Notices, New York State Department of Labor). Biz2Credit's press-release boilerplate said "over 350 employees globally" from July 2020 to April 2021 (AICPA and CPA.com Team with Biz2Credit to Launch PPP Loan Forgiveness Tool; Biz2Credit Named to First-Ever Financial Times List of The Americas' Fastest Growing Companies). In June 2022 a release said Biz2X had "700% revenue growth in the last 18 months" and "employs over 550 people globally" (Biz2X Announces Growth of 700% in 18 Months, Launches New Tagline and Website).

How the book ended

Of Itria's 172,831 PPP loans, SBA's September 2024 data show $4.41 billion forgiven and 18,923 loans, 10.9%, charged off. The charge-off rate for the whole program was 5.6% (SBA PPP loan-level data, as of September 30, 2024). Neither rate is adjusted for loan size or borrower type.

After the pandemic (mid 2021 – present)

The FTC complaint and stipulated order

On March 18, 2024, the FTC filed FTC v. Biz2Credit, Inc. and Itria Ventures LLC, No. 1:24-cv-02001 (S.D.N.Y.; Judge Jennifer L. Rochon), and a same-day stipulated order. The complaint pleads two theories under Section 5 of the FTC Act and the COVID-19 Consumer Protection Act:

Processing-time misrepresentation. Biz2Credit advertised that PPP applications would be processed in "10-12 business days" or "12-14 business days," on its website, in webinar slides, and in mass emails to accountants. The FTC alleged the actual average final-determination time was about 25 business days, that funded borrowers waited about 17 business days on average, and that tens of thousands waited more than two months. The complaint also alleged roughly 40% of Biz2Credit consumers had applications cancelled or rejected, which the FTC said was the highest rate among the ten largest PPP lenders.

Withdrawal. The FTC alleged Biz2Credit designed its process to obtain e-tran numbers quickly, before substantive underwriting, leaving borrowers unable to apply elsewhere while an application was pending. Only an SBA-authorized lender can release an e-tran number. The complaint quotes one borrower: "We have asked to withdraw this application so many times. It has been over a month, and we don't understand why the loan is still active with SBA. …You are preventing us from getting the help that is crucial to our business." The complaint says Biz2Credit released that application only after SBA itself flagged the complaint.

The settlement

The stipulated final order entered March 20, 2024:

  • $33,000,000 monetary judgment, jointly and severally against Biz2Credit and Itria, payable by electronic fund transfer within seven days. No suspension provision.
  • Permanent injunction against misrepresenting processing time, approval odds, application status, material facts about government benefits, or any material fact about credit products.
  • Affirmative requirement to allow consumers to withdraw or cancel pending applications, check status, and submit missing documents through the same medium they used to apply (web, phone, mail, in person).
  • Ten years of compliance reporting; recordkeeping; FTC compliance monitoring; collateral-estoppel language tying the complaint's facts to any future bankruptcy non-dischargeability action.
  • Findings paragraph 3: defendants neither admit nor deny the allegations, except as needed to establish jurisdiction.

The FTC paired the $33 million with the $26 million FTC v. Womply settlement filed the same day in the Northern District of California and called them "the largest damages amounts ever secured by the agency under Section 19 of the FTC Act" (FTC press release, March 18, 2024). The FTC announced the two together as a combined $59 million.

Biz2X after PPP

Biz2X continues as the bank-facing lending platform; its site lists HSBC and Popular Bank among client banks.

Where Biz2Credit doesn't appear

  • House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis, December 1, 2022 fintech-PPP report ("We Are Not the Fraud Police"): Biz2Credit is not a subject. The report's case studies are Blueacorn, Womply, Kabbage, Bluevine, Cross River, and Customers Bank.
  • SBA suspensions (December 2022): SBA's statement names neither Biz2Credit nor Itria.
  • False Claims Act settlements: none located. The FTC case was a Section 5 deception/unfairness theory, not a False Claims Act case about origination integrity or false certifications to SBA.
  • DOJ criminal charges against Biz2Credit, Itria, or their officers: none located.
  • Bank-regulator written agreements: none located. Itria is not a bank.
  • Bankruptcy proceedings: none. Biz2Credit remains active and privately held.

Current posture (as of mid-2026)

Privately held, active, headquartered in New York City. Rohit Arora remains CEO. Itria Ventures continues as the SBA-authorized lending subsidiary. The FTC stipulated order's compliance, reporting, and recordkeeping obligations run through 2034.

Court records

Sources

Primary documents in this archive

External references

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